Men&#39;s undergarments



March 18, 1958 N. A. SEVERSON I 2,827,051

MENS UNDERGARMEN'IS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 18, 1957 INVENTOR. A/ELSA 65 VER so/v AT aRA/Ew United. States. Patent v lvIENS UNDERGARMENTSNels A. Sever-son, Minneapolis,- Minn}, assignor to Munsingwear, 1nc.,Minneapolis, Minn a corporation'of Delaware Application January18,'1957,"Serial No. 635,069

51Claints.v (Cb-128 159) This invention relates to newand'usefulimprovements inmen-sundergarments oftlie general classdisclosedlin Patent No. 2,310,839 granted toFranklin Chatfield .et al.,FbruaryQ, 1943.

The garment disclosedin the above mentioned patent has been very popularin the trade over a .period of years. While it has proven extremelypractical and efiicientirl general use, it has.0ne weaknesswhichthepresent invention aims to correct. This'weakness resides in themanner in which the rear end portion of the crotch member is'secured inthe seat portion of the garment. In the garment disclosed in the above.noted patent, a. segment shaped'opening is providedin the seat portionof the main body blank to receive the segment shaped .rear end portionof the crotch member. When thus constructed, ,the crotch blank is"secured to the main body blank by a plurality of seams, which obviouslyincreases the manufacturing cost. Moreover, by utilizing a plurality ofseams in the seat portion ofthe garment, as above stated, the seatportion. of the garment may be weakened to the extent thattensional'strains imposed therein as a result of stoopingor bendingbody. movements, may cause the fabric to tear or tip along the reartransverse seam of the.crotch member, and thereby destroy the usefulnessof the garment.

An important object in the present invention, therefore, is to provide amans undergarment comprising a uniquely shaped crotch member whose rearend portion is substantially-circular in configuration and is adapted.to be fittedinto an enlarged circular opening in theseat portion of thegarment blank, whereby therear end portion of the crotch member may besecured to. the seat portion of the garment by a. continuous unbrokenseam extending around the entire rear end portion of the crotch member,whereby tensional strains exerted in the seat portion of the garment aredistributed over a relatively wide area of the seat of the garment,thereby greatly strengthening the connection between the rear endportion of the crotch member and the seat of the. garment, whereby thefabric andstitching are not likely to tear, even when the fabric of theseat portion of the garment is subjected to severe tensional strains.

A further object of the invention resides in the specific formationvofthe crotch blank andthe contour of the opening providedinthe.seatportioni' of the body blank, whereby the crotch member may bestitched to the body blank by a continuous unbroken seam extending fromthe waist band downwardly along one side of the front of the crotchmember, and rearwardly around the rear circular end portion of thecrotch member, thence forwardly and up the other side of the front endof the crotch member to the waist band, thereby greatly facilitating theoperation of securing the crotch member to the body of the garment.

These and other objects of the invention and the means for theirattainment will be more apparent from the following description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings.

2,827,051 Patented. Mar. .18, 1958 In the drawings there has beendisclosed astructure designed to carry out the various objects of theinvention, but it is to be understood that the invention is not .con-.fined to the exact features shown, as.-various changes may be madewithin the scope of the claims which follow.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a rear view of agarment showing thein vention embodied inthe seat portion thereof;

Figure 2 is a front view of the garment positioned on a body;

Figure 3 is a rear view of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a view showing the blank from which the main body portion ofthe garment is constructed, includ, ing the leg portions thereof;

Figure 5 is a view showing the blank from which the crotch member isconstructed; and,

Figure 6 is a view showing the blank from which the front wall of thegarment is constructed.

The garment herein described is shown comprising a main body portion 2having leg portions 33, and a. crotch member, generally designated bythe numeral 4, as shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3. The main body portion 2of the garment may be constructed of one or more blanks, or of tubularknit fabric, as may be desired. In the present instance the body of thegarment is shown made from a main body blank 5, shown in Figure 4, afront panel or wall section 6, shown in Figure 6-, and a crotch blank 7,shown in Figure 5.

The main body blank 5 is shown provided with-leg portions 8-3, separatedby an elongated opening 9, extending upwardly from the bottom edge 11 ofthe blank.

An important feature of the present invention resides in the uniqueconstruction of the rear end portion of the crotch member and the mannerin which it issecured to the seat portion of the garment body wherebytensional strains imposed in the seat portion of the garment and therear end portion of the crotch member are distributed over a relativelywide area of the rear portion. of the garment body, whereby thestitching-securing the rear end portion of the crotch member to the seatportion of the garment is not likely to become damaged fromsuch strains,and whereby the seam will last the life of..the garment.

To thus distribute the tensional strains over a relatively Wide area ofthe seat portion of the garment, the rear central or seat portion of thegarment blank is provided with an enlarged opening 13 which issubstantially circular in shape, as shown, and has its lower portion incommunication with the upper end of the elongated upright opening 9, asclearly illustrated in Figure 4. The leg portions of the garment aredefined by the edge portions 11, 14 and 15 in a manner similar to thegarment disclosed in the hereinbefore mentioned patent.

The crotch blank 7, as best illustrated. in Figure 5 is shown providedwith oppositely extending wings16-16 the lower edges 17-17 of which: areadapted to. be stitched together by a seam 18 asshown inFigure Z,thereby to providea fullness in the front portion ofIth'e crotch memberto serve as a suspensory.

The specific construction of the front or wing portion of the crotchmember and the manner in which it is secured to the front portion of thegarment body, is shown and described in detail in Patent #2,328,953,granted to Franklin Chatfield and Jennie M. Lindh on September 7, 1943,and forms no part of the present invention.

The distinguishing feature of the present invention over the garmentshown in the above mentioned patent resides principally in the design ofthe rear end portion of the crotch member and the method in which it issecured 'to the seat portion of the garment body, as hereinbeforestated. V 7

As best illustrated in Figure the rear end portion 12 of the blank iscircular in configuration and is adapted to be fitted into the-enlargedcircular opening 13 in. the body blank 5,. with its circular edge 19coinciding substantially with the circular edge 21 defining the opening13 in' the body'blank 5. Edges 19 and 21 are secured together by acircular seam 22 which extends arotmd the rear circular end portion ofthe crotch member and forwardly through the groins, as illustrated inFigure 1,

and thence continues upwardly to the waist band 23 e of the garment, byseams 24-24. The upright seams 24 thus secure the upright edges of thefront end portion of the, crotch member to the body of the garment, andsimultaneously secures the front wall panel 6 in position between theside wall sections 25 of the garment body,

7 as will be understood by reference to Figure 2.

It will thus be seen that' by enlarging the rear 'end 7 7 portion of thecrotch blank 4 and making such end porblank is stitched together by theseam 18,;as hereinbefore stated, whereby the upright side edges of thefront end portion of the crotch member are brought into sub-' stantiallyparallel relation so that the crotch member may be secured in positioninthe garment by a single seam, indicated by the numerals 22 and 2424.

By'constructing the crotch member 4, as herein disclosed, and securingit to the seat portion of the garment,

in the manner described, the operation of securing the crotch member inposition in the garment is greatly facilitated and, in addition, thetensional strains exerted inthe fabric, particularly in and about theseam 22, aredistributed over a. relatively wide area, whereby the fabricis not likely to tear or become weakened along the seam 22, as a resultof bending or stooping movements by the wearer. To enable the rear endportion 12 of the crotch member to stretch freely in an up-and-downdirection,-when the seat of'the garment is subjected to tent sional"strains, the wales of the fabric in the rear end portion 12 of thecrotch blank 7 are disposed horizontally, as indicated by the arrow 20,in' Figure 5, whereby the rear portion of the crotch member may freelystretch in an up-and-down direction, as indicated by the arrow 30 inFigure 1, thereby to relieve the fabric from severe tensional strains.

From the foregoing, it would be noted that the seam 222 4 may becompleted in a single operation without interruption, and because of therear circular end por- ;tion 12 of the crotch member constitutingtarelatively large portion of the seat of the garmenhtcnsional strainsimposed to the fabric will be distributed over a relatively greater areaof the seat and back portion of the garment body, whereby the rearportion of the garment including the seam 22 will withstand normal wearthroughout the life of the garment.

The foregoing detailed description has been given for clearness ofunderstanding only, and no unnecessary limitations should be understoodtherefrom, and the appended claims should be construed as broadly aspermissible in view of the prior art.

I claim as my invention: 7 t

1. In a garment of the class described, a body portion comprising, backand side Walls, said side walls extending around the sides to the frontof the garment and having their upright edges at the front of thegarment spaced apart laterally, a front wall section fitting betweensaid upright side wall edges and having its lower horizontal edgeterminating above the crotch portion of the garment, the lower centralportion of said back wall having an enlarged circular opening therein, acrotch 7 member having an enlarged circular rear end portion fitting insaid opening and having its opposite end portion extending forwardly andupwardly and overlyingfthe lower portionof said front wall section withits vertical side edges coincident with the vertical edges of said sidewalls, and a continuous unbroken seam securing the marginal side andrear edges of the crotch member to the body of the garment, the lowermarginal'edge of said front wall section and the upper marginal edge ofthe crotch member being free and unattached and cooperating to provide anormallyclosed fly opening.

2. A garment according to claim 1, wherein the vertical edges of thefront wall section and said crotch member are secured to the bodyportion of the garment by a single unbroken seam. V t

3. Agarment according'to claim 1, wherein the crotch member, prior tobeing secured-in the garment, is pro vided with means for providing a'fullness in the lower forward portion thereof, when the crotch member.is subsequently secured in position in the garment.

4. A. main body blank for a garmenthaving anenlarged circular opening inthe lower centralportion of the seat forming portion thereof, said blankalso having an elongated opening therein extending downwardly from thecircular opening in the blank to the lower edge thereof, said openingsfacilitating the formation of the leg portions of the garment and theoperation of securing V the crotch member therein.

5. A main body blank for "a garment comprising leg forming portions andhaving an enlarged circular opening in the central portion thereofextending well up into the seat forming portion of the blank, and avertically disposed opening located in the vertical axis of the blankand communicating at its upper end with said enlarged circular opening,and extending downwardly therefrom to the lower edge of the blank, saidenlarged cir cular opening and said vertically disposedtopeningfaciliating the subsequent completionof the leg portions of the garmentand the operation of securing the crotch,

member in position in the garment.

' References Cited in the file of this'patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,457,260 Morris Dec.'28, 19i8

